More Progress on the Homestead

One of the first signs of spring, and I'm glad to see it. I've already decided to put some of my garden in early in the hopes that spring is really here. I just finished digging up the ground for the first row, which will have onions and beets. I plan to plant the onion bulbs tomorrow or the next day as soon as the coming storms move through.

You ever have one of those Aha moments where you feel like you should've have known the answer all along? Well, that happened to me today when I finally realized I needed a shovel to dig up the earth and prepare it for a garden. I don't have a plow or cultivator, so I have to do everything by hand. I was using a hoe, rake and hand cultivator and wasn't having very good luck with the tough grass. Now, I've got my first row ready to plant, and I'm excited.

The weekend has been a little rough with the calves. Victoria decided not to eat Saturday morning. I know that is serious with bottle calves, and they can't go long without eating before going downhill. I called a vet in town and made plans to take her in that afternoon. She decided to eat when I offered it that afternoon, so I saved the money I would have spent on a vet bill. Sunday evening, Sweetie did the same thing. She ate fine this morning, so I think both calves are fine even though I don't know what the problem was.

This week promises to be productive as I work on my garden and try to get a pen set up for my outside dogs so I can move the calves into a bigger stall. I just hope the weather cooperates and we don't have any severe storms.

Unpredictable March Weather - And Longing for Spring

Today is the first day of March, and it appears to have come in like a lion. Thunderstorms early this morning and much cooler temperatures than the almost 80 degrees from yesterday. I want to start planting my garden, so I'm getting impatient. As soon as it warms up a little, I plan to put a few onion bulbs in the ground.

I planted peas indoors and a few are beginning to come up. I don't expect to have everything come up and do well, but I'm hoping for a decent first garden. I know it will be a lot of work, but it will be so worth it once I start harvesting.

The bottle calves we got are two weeks old yesterday. They are finally starting to do well. I knew they were more delicate than one might think, but I worried about them until the last day or two. I have learned one valuable lesson - start off with electrolytes along with milk to keep them from getting the scours.

There is a lot of work to be done around here, and it can get frustrating just thinking about it. I have to learn to focus on the most important things and let everything else go for now. One of my first priorities will be building a pen for the older dogs, so they don't wander off the property. Then, I will have to build a fence for a small pen for the calves so they can get outside and eat grass.

I'm just excited that spring is on the way even though it means a lot of work. My first spring on the farm - who knows what will happen.

Welcome to the Farm!

Hello from the Diamond M Farm. This is a property that I purchased last May, and I decided to start a blog detailing my journey to building my farm.

My goal for this property is to own animals for profit as well as enjoying them as pets. Right now, I have four dogs, six cats, a few chickens and two young bottle calves. I hope to expand to pigs, goats and who knows what else.

This is a view of my back yard from my deck. It's one of the things I love most about the property.

I also want to have a big enough garden to provide vegetables to last all year. I plan to build a small orchard as well.

My hope with this blog is that as I tell the stories of what I'm doing, the successes along with the failures and mistakes, that others will enjoy my tales and maybe even learn something for their own dreams. I also hope to hear from readers who may offer valuable input on what I'm doing.